A cold snap in Florida has every county declared a disaster area and its my job to show Floridians what their farmers are going through. I attempt to do this beautifully, making the images as impactful as possible.

I decided this would be the project I would once and for all learn the basics of Final Cut Pro and get some directing practice under my belt.

jackie and i are working, slowly but steadily, on our most ambitious project to date:

a feature-length historical documentary/where are they now?/social investigation about the international phenomenon that was/is FMILLEST.
what’s an FMillest, you say? it was/is our crew from our more formidable years, a group of people brought together by rollerblading. but it turned into much more than a skate crew.

so when jackie was down here a few weeks ago, we decided to:
A) see where everyone was, and what they’re doing
B) see if we can scare up as many old photos/videos/letters/etc. from that time as possible, and
C) put it all together as a documentary

we are now in the interviewing and old-media-gathering phase of the project, which we expect will last a long time. my conservative estimate for completion is one year. each interview, thus far, has been at least an hour. we’re looking at the possibility of acquiring THOUSANDS of stills, and HOURS UPON HOURS of old skate/party video.

Wesside

so this:

is a video i shot/cut for a friend’s band, bus-stop shanking. shot it like 6 weeks ago, but finally got it finished last night.

it actually came out pretty close to what i saw in my head beforehand:

the exceptions to the realization of that vision being
A) not being able to get ahold of a single tarp/sheet big enough, and having to use 3 bed sheets instead, and
B) having to deal with a drunker-than-expected, and astonishingly uncooperative, band. which of course led to fewer usable takes, fewer takes…period, and therefore VERY limited raw footage to work with.

but i gave it the old college try, and am mildly pleased with the outcome.

we finished another one too, which i will put up here as soon as i figure out this vimeo thing…

I’m Doug. I’m a Photojournalist with a CBS affiliate in Florida, trying to branch out into documentary/educational territory. For my Freshman effort, I present to you:

Fun with Photons: Episode 1-In a pinch…

So I was doing a routine “Satellite Center” shot all morning today. That’s where we set up in master control (where they switch between local and network programming) and *.reporter talks about *.the lead from last night.

Simple shot, controlled environment.

…unless you have the palsy.
—Somehow I slept on a 9v battery a couple weeks ago, and I suffered radial nerve palsy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrist_drop)—
So in my limp-wristed state, I apparently wasn’t able to tighten the lock on one of my light stands enough. 90sec out from a live shot,
SHHHINK…CRACK. POP!
80sec.- No back/hair light, no extra bulb.
70- Run to the other side of the room, steal the operator’s chair. Stand on it.
60- Struggle on tippy-toes, on a rolling chair, to reach the track lighting above the swit